Some schools earmarked by the government as leaders in training teachers have revealed ¡°dissatisfaction¡± over their partnerships with universities, adding that in some cases they have created a ¡°sense of inertia¡±, according to research.

Toby Greany, professor of leadership and innovation at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the UCL Institute of Education, who has co-authored a report on ¡°teaching schools¡±, said that many were questioning the value that they were getting from working with higher education institutions.

¡°While [any given partnership] had strengths because it was about trust and a relationship, sometimes there was a sense of dissatisfaction [from schools],¡± said Professor Greany, who launched his report at the UCL IoE last month.

He added that some of the teaching schools ¨C which have a key role in training teachers under the government¡¯s School Direct scheme ¨C did not feel ¡°as though it¡¯s a proper partnership, and that¡¯s creating a sense of inertia¡±.

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Professor Greany stressed that the schools expressing concerns were still those ¡°absolutely committed to the role of research-informed practice and saw a role, in the main, for universities¡±.

The study adds that the schools¡¯ dissatisfaction is often coupled with a sense of being trapped in the relationship because of the difficulties and concerns about ¡°going it alone¡±.

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¡°[The dissatisfaction is] tempered by a view that the logistical challenges and emotional effort required to sever the link would be too much to take on,¡± the report says.

Professor Greany and his team conclude that school leaders must ¡°balance the hard financial aspect¡± of school-university partnerships with an ¡°assessment of the quality of provision on offer¡± from the university.

For successful and worthwhile partnerships, they recommend that school leaders be clear on what they need and what they can offer and ensure that ¨C once a partnership has been established ¨C they ¡°create time and space for staff from each institution to work together to achieve agreed objectives¡±.

john.elmes@tesglobal.com